More Takes on What the World Thinks About a Trump Presidency
Is there any country that’s pleased with the results of the 2016 U.S. presidential election? (Besides Russia, that is.)
Donald Trump is pumped he won the U.S. presidential election. But how does the rest of the world feel?
Americans are perhaps more divided than we’ve ever been since the Civil War. Donald Trump won the electoral college and therefore the presidency — despite the fact that more people actually voted for Hillary Clinton.
But what does the rest of the world think about President-elect Trump? I reached out to friends who live abroad or who have family in foreign countries. Read Part 1 of their responses here.
The reactions kept coming in. Here’s Part 2. –Wally
Donovan and Kate, Americans living in Qatar
Regarding the local view of That Horrible Thing That Happened:
The initial reaction in Qatar was probably the same as everywhere else: shock. Everyone here went to bed Tuesday night (Doha time) assuming to wake up to a Hillary presidency, and then…that.
Georgetown University Qatar had an Election Morning celebration, featuring the U.S. ambassador and all kinds of red, white and blue décor. She stayed long enough to realize that Trump would win, and the embassy released a tight-lipped statement saying that they would serve the next president as expected; you could hear the tears in the press release.
Several of the universities here had emergency community meetings to address student fears; these are, after all, schools rooted in the U.S. with students here who have been told they won’t be allowed to travel to the U.S.
From an expat perspective, the kind of person who would live in Qatar is not the kind of person who believes the Trump view of the world, and especially the Muslim world, so the last week has been essentially a funeral out here. All we’ve tried to do is ensure that all our coworkers, friends, etc., understand that we’re on their side, and that tens of millions of Americans are, too.
We’ll wake up tomorrow to the call to prayer, and as is tradition, Donovan will have his morning beer in his underwear while hundreds of Muslims pray beneath us. Is that not the ideal we should strive for?
Alan from Spain
Showman: That’s the first idea that comes to me when I hear Donald Trump’s name. Probably because I have seen him and his family since I was a kid on E! television or because the first image that comes to my mind is Trump firing people on a TV show where he was “the boss.” He was not nice from what I remember — he is not nice from what he had said on his political campaign.
His campaign was one of the biggest broadcasted shows ever. People that have followed it have been a total part of it: lovers and haters, critics and passionate homophobic-racist-misogynists.
Half of the United States supports Trump, while the other half hates what he stands for
In Spain, we have this kind of political behavior and media. It starts being like soccer or football…Red vs. Blue, yelling at each other without listening a word. Passionate hooligans.
For some of us, the idea of a “politician” like Trump seems like a joke. But it makes sense when you realize that there are governments that are not supporting education. Education is the base of the society, and when you segregate people for their origin since they were born, cut the spending for public schools and teachers, and don’t allow people to have real opportunities to grow, there will be a Donald Trump yelling in representation of “everyone else.”
People in the USA seem to be mad. But without asking questions or trying to figure out what is happening with their system, they blame the disadvantaged — those who are trying to survive in a society that exploits their work and undervalues their skills.
Maybe things will change, when in some circles they start realizing that having a black-skinned president does not make your country less racist.
Heather from England
Basically we have had the same response as the level-headed Americans. It’s a worry for us. But we are still reeling from our own stupid decision about Brexit back in June.
This meme circulated after the U.S. election of Donald Trump and draws a connection between the racism/isolationism/nationalism of the alt-right and Brexit voters.
On the plus side, there have been some lovely shots of the new first lady in a furry bikini on the front pages of the tabloids!
Lynn from Guam
I think Guam’s polls were 75% for Clinton. So most people on Guam favored her over Trump.
The doctor I worked with followed the campaign closely and was in favor of Trump: a businessman who made some bad business decisions, while Clinton was an unethical person who damaged computer systems after a subpoena was served.
There are no protests on Guam at this time against Trump as president of the USA. Our governor is full of support for him and hopes to have a valuable presence with him.
The same doctor says, no they won’t impeach him because he is making fast adjustments (i.e., not eliminating the Affordable Care Act but using parts of it.)
There is a movement that says that the USA is not concerned about the island. We are brown-skinned people who would not weigh in with Trump.
I have not heard about predictions for the next four years. In my mind is great uncertainty: fear of global war, human suffering, lack of food and huge immigration.
Perhaps I should focus on hope, joy, harmony and peace that is here and now. I am not in Syria or Africa and we live a very good life because of Uncle Sam.
Humanity is global, so I can only pray for all people to have the quality of life that I am able to enjoy.
Ivo, a Bulgarian living in the United States
In Bulgaria we are mostly for the Democrats, for Hillary.
We have a prime minister, Boyko Borissov, who reminds me of Trump. He is very frank and authoritative. He was actually the bodyguard of the old communist president who ruled for 45 or so years.
Angie, an American living in China
It is hard to give a good answer to what people think about Trump, as I think you are asking about how locals, meaning a typical Chinese person, feels about the elections, and I don’t think they know/care much. My ayi (housekeeper) hasn’t said anything about it.
The day of the elections at school were interesting, however, but I don’t think representative. The students were obsessed with the elections, and it was hard to get anything else done that day. They seemed to be legitimately surprised at the outcomes, as were the teachers here. I am still at a loss as to how this happened.
I don’t know any teachers here that were pro-Trump, but there may have been some in hiding. The students we teach are from families who chose to send their kids to a liberal school and have plans to send their kids out of the country for university. These kids have been taught by us teachers, so not surprising they were surprised at the outcome, too. For them it seems like a question of discrimination. One student, a Chinese girl in 10th grade, was worrying about where she was going to go to college now. Some of my 12th graders have voiced concerns about going to the U.S. next year for university. In all honesty, I don’t know if I will be keen to send my daughter Fatima to the U.S. in three years for school.
This election puts China in a position to potentially rule the South China Sea. Some policies are starting to be put in place to limit foreigners and Western education here, so we will see how that goes.
BONUS! Nicolás, an editor from Spain, presented us with his take. Trouble is, neither Duke nor I speak Spanish fluently. That being said, we can get the gist, and he seems to put quite a bit of blame on Hillary and her supporters for the rise of Trump.
Tal vez, no hayan entendido nada: Hillary, todas esas Hillary políticamente correctas de “izquierda,” les han arruinado literalmente la vida a esa gente (principalmente del interior, pobre, blanco y aislado), liberalizando la economía al extremo y entregándoles a las corporaciones todo lo que han pedido.
Esa gente, ahora trabaja en Walmart de mierda con horarios infinitos, sin derechos y están envenenados de comer basura porque no pueden permitirse alimentarse a base de otra cosa, gracias a que políticos como Hillary subvencionan la industria alimenticia tecnificada en detrimento de industrias rurales.
El americano rural y clase media está desapareciendo.
Los Hillary (su marido, sin ir más lejos), han quitado todo tipo de regulaciones sobre el mercado de valores (Ley Glass-Steagall) que finalmente ha creado una burbuja para tragarlo todo y quedarse con las casas de quienes no han podido pagar sus hipotecas infladas. Han sido los Hillary quienes han contribuido, como nadie, a la deslocalización de empresas que afectan, sobre todo, a la clase media de ciudades del interior. Han sido los Hillary, de Estados Unidos y el mundo, quienes siguen pariendo monstruos por el hartazgo y la traición que ellos mismos representan...
Fue Hillary, por cierto, quien con su aparato Demócrata amañado frenó las aspiraciones de Bernie Sanders, el único que podía parar este desastre.
Ahora díganme: ¿Qué parte del triunfo de Trump no entienden?
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